Thursday, 12 July 2012

Mom would make fried chicken on a Saturday as a special lunch time
treat for my Dad and all 5 of us kids.Mom would always squeeze lemon juice over the chicken and it would be so
fresh and juicy! She would pair the chicken with homemade mashed potatoes (made
in the pressure cooker of course! “Tree minootes, den finish!”)

I tweaked it a bit, substituting chili powder for the
cayenne powder and I did not use coriander seeds for the brine. I used a large bag of thigh and drumsticks and added some fresh lemon juice for old time's sake. For the brine, I did not boil the water
before hand as I was in a hurry to head out in the morning. The end result was
pleasing, my husband and kids really enjoyed the chicken!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch
baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, together on a sheet pan and bake
for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer
the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a
small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a
minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots,
cranberries and mango and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and
lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until
light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares.
Serve at room temperature

Saturday, 25 February 2012

During Lent, it is customary for our family to eat fish or seafood on Fridays. Since we already had the octopus prepped and ready, I planned to cook it for Friday night's dinner. This time, we used our trusty Presto Pressure Cooker. It was a wedding gift from my mother, and to be honest with you, I only started using it on a weekly basis when Mom came to stay with us.

The Pressure Cooker is amazing. You can cook meals in literally minutes with this volcanic device. Now we are comfortable using it, we cook Cacoila, Ribs, Chicken, Pork Chops, Soups, Beans and Potatoes and Octopus in it. Don't cook Pea Soup in it like I did, you might end up with a green ceiling!

We followed my Aunt Filomena's recipe for the Octopus Stew. My aunt is a pro at using a pressure cooker, she always has one on her stove top and can whip up a meal in less than no time. She is also a great cook. She makes all sorts of soups, jams, cakes, malasadas, sausages, pickled onions and makes the best home made french fries!

Marinate octopus will all the above ingredients except the onions and the potatoes at least for a day. Save the marinate as it will be the liquid used for cooking.

Here's what the marinade looked like:

Method using a Pressure Cooker

1. Add a little olive oil to the pot and begin to cook the onion. Do not top the cooker yet.
2.Once the onion has cooked for a few minutes, add the octopus and the marinade. (The potatoes will be added later.)
3. Place the lid on the Pressure Cooker and cook on medium heat until there is a continuous flow of steam being expelled from the vent. At this time, add the weight onto the top of the Pressure Cooker.
4.Cook the octopus for 5-8 minutes with the weight consistently rocking from the steam's force.
5. Remove the pot from the stove, cool, remove the top and check for tenderness.
6. If tender, add the potatoes, cover pot- do not add the weight yet. (If not tender yet, return the pot to the stove with the lid on and weight and cook a little longer and then check for tenderness again.)
7. Once the vent has a consistent flow of steam, add the weight and cook the potatoes for 2 minutes.
8. At this point the octopus and potatoes are fully cooked, turn off the pot, let cool, remove weight and lid and enjoy.

This dish is thoroughly enjoyed with a glass of red wine and some nice crusty bread to help mop up the spicy sauce.

Monday, 20 February 2012

Yesterday's Catch

I feel really lucky to have a husband and son who "would rather be fishing" at any chance they can get. You never know what will make it home after a impromptu fishing trip down at our neighbourhood dock. Yesterday's catch was every Portuguese person's delicacy...OCTOPUS!

Here's my son holding the octopus before it made it's way inside the kitchen. Once inside, Mom taught me how to wash the octopus (sorry no pictures as my hands were SO slimy) and how to dissect it and to prepare it for stewing. It was work! I had to get the cleaver out and use it to chop the tentacles, at one point I had to push the suckers down on the cutting board to help to stabilise the tentacles because they were so slippery. Well, now the pieces are in the freezer tenderising. My aunt from the Azores says this is the way to tenderise a fresh octopus. Hopefully we will cook it this week with lots of wine and potatoes! I'll keep you posted on the final result.

Sunday, 19 February 2012

Last week we had a teacher appreciation lunch at school. Couscous salad was offered as a dish and it was so colourful and enticing. It was made by Miles Market and was amazing! We bought a sampling yesterday and I was inspired to try a similar rendition today.
This recipe was so easy and is so flavourful! I followed the following recipe:http://www.sunsweet.com/recipes/info_print.asp?Recipe=193 and substituted almonds for the pine nuts (last minute improvisation), used sultanas and added some orange juice and curry. It's chilling at the moment and I think that it will be an perfect match for the minced mint lamb skewers (from Supermart). Happy Sunday cooking, I know I will definitely make this couscous salad again!

Saturday, 18 February 2012

Portuguese Biscoitos

Here's another first for me- biscoitos!

This year, I made these with the hope they would be better than last year's disaster batch- the weather was perfect and the timing just right. I found 2 recipes on line and mixed them together. This recipe was from http://www.food.com/recipe/av-s-biscoitos-portuguese-biscotti-cookies-346027 and I did add a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of lemon juice and substituted the butter with 1 bar of Crisco Butter flavoured shortening. We also bake them at 400 degrees. I am still yet to figure out how to cover them in the home made icing-any suggestions or recommendations?

These biscuits are perfect for dunking in a cup of tea or coffee and are light and crisp. They are usually made for holidays and parties. I will definitely make these again!

Last weekend we made this lovely cake. We used real butter, fresh blueberries and lots of lemon zest(more than asked for!) We even froze it and are enjoying it tonight. As you can see, the cake is still frozen and will thaw for a few minutes. This recipe is from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/blueberry-lemon-pound-cake/

I just love the vintage linen under the plate. Believe it or not, but the chicken feed Mom and Dad used to buy would come in bags made from this beautiful linen. I really like this one, and Mom says it dates back to the 1950s. Mom says that back then, many a pretty dress, tablecloth and curtains were made from the recycled fabric. Recycling at it's best- and so dainty!

After searching for a no fail recipe, I was happy to stumble across this recipe from the Pastry Channel-thepastrychannel.com/malasada I added some lemon zest, 1/4 cup of sugar and substituted one cup of flour for pancake mix. Mom and I fried them up and were please to know that our first attempt was a success. Happy Shrove Tuesday!